Dubai school is working to change poor ratings

Crescent English High School’s poor ratings are a result of several factors, including budgetary challenges, according to Susan Varghese, its principal. Ms Varghese said she had been working to enact change at the school in Al Qusais since she became its leader. The institution, which has about 1,400 students, had been consistently rated as unsatisfactory […]

Crescent English High School’s poor ratings are a result of several factors, including budgetary challenges, according to Susan Varghese, its principal.

Ms Varghese said she had been working to enact change at the school in Al Qusais since she became its leader.

The institution, which has about 1,400 students, had been consistently rated as unsatisfactory by the Dubai School Inspection Bureau for four years.

“We know the steps to be taken forward. The inspections were supportive,” said Ms Varghese. “Being a low-budget and non-profit school is a challenge. Many changes are happening but they will take their own pace.”

She said she would place greater emphasis on professional development of teachers. Raising the necessary funds would be a big challenge, but “we want to invest more into teaching and learning”, said Ms Varghese.

“We want to do more things, but we have a limited budget, so working with the Dubai School Inspection Bureau’s recommendations is the priority,” she said.

Enriching the curriculum was a major part of the reforms needed to improve the school, as well as leadership training programmes for the staff.

“We have added more curriculum choices, especially technology-based learning,” said the principal. “We now have computer science and informatics for Grade 11 students.”

But the school’s ability to attract and retain quality staff members was a major challenge. “We train the staff and they keep moving,” said Ms Varghese. However, she was hopeful that things would improve despite the school’s unimpressive record.